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Saturday, April 5, 2014

Why Everyone Should Build a Computer

In the past week, my parts have finally come in and I am now in the process of assembling my first build. Ever since I was little, I have loved computers, and that is the profession I want to go into after college, so building my own computer sounded logical to me. As I went through it though, I realized that building a computer isn't only good for people who are really into it, but it is a valuable experience for everyone in a time when computers are becoming increasingly integrated into our lives. First, it is good because it gives you a greater understanding of technology, and it is much more cost effective.

Everyone should at least try to build a computer once in their lives because the knowledge that you gain is huge. You start out just picking out all the parts you want to put in there (I would recommend using pcpartpicker.com). At that stage alone you learn about compatibility, brand integrity, software basics, etc. After you pick out everything you want and check the compatibility on all of it, you order the parts, which is a learning experience within itself. You aren't just picking up a computer ready to go after you;ve ordered it, you're getting the raw materials for it and putting it together yourself, which Lifehacker says incredibly rewarding in itself. Once you finally get all the parts, you start to assemble it from videos, which is the fun part. It's extremely nerve-wracking,my build for example, which is about $850, is probably the most fragile $850 I've ever handled, and I had a light sweat going just watching the video preparing myself for when I was going to do it. A lot of people are scared that its going to be really hard to put your PC together, but as I and PC World can say, its actually not that bad, and is incredibly rewarding to say that you are building/have built a computer by yourself!

The second reason I believe that everybody should build their own computer is that it is significantly cheaper for the parts you get as compared to what you could buy in the store, pre-built. For example, my $850 build would likely be significantly more if I were to buy it. Even spending the same amount of money, the computer that I would get would be much lower performance than the one I am building. As Digital Trends points out though, its really only a great argument for building it yourself if you're spending over $600. Even though you might only be looking at a $300 computer that would be comparable to what you could buy already built, I would still strongly recommend building instead because its much easier to upgrade, you get to choose your own parts, and you get the experience that I was talking about in the last paragraph.

IN the last 20 years, the trend that technology is being integrated into our lives at an astounding pace is uncontested. Many people just buy their electronics ready-to-go, but in computers, I would encourage everybody to build at least one in their lifetime. Building your own computer gives you an invaluable learning experience and is much more cost-effective.